Three Knoxville high schools and two others in neighboring cities are among Tennessee's Top 20 public high schools according to a new study by U.S. News and World Report.

Released today, the study names L&N STEM Academy as the No. 6 high school in Tennessee. Farragut was ranked No. 9, with No. 13 Oak Ridge, No. 17 Maryville and No. 20 Bearden also making the list.

The report noted L&N STEM Academy's 98 percent graduation rate and 79 percent passing rate on Advance Placement scores as among the reasons for the lofty ranking. Other factors in the ranking including diversity of the student demographics, teacher-to-student ratios and an overall "college readiness index" of 49.1.The report also ranked the academy as No. 821 among all U.S. high schools and No. 118 among all U.S. magnet high schools.

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All 10 of these top colleges have generous acceptance rates, according to 'MONEY.'
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No. 9 Farragut (No. 1216 in the U.S.) was ranked partially based on 98 percent graduation rate, an 83 percent passing rate on AP scores and a college readiness index of 41.6.

No. 13 Oak Ridge (No. 1674 in the U.S.) has a graduation rate of 88 percent, an 82 percent passing rate on AP scores and a college readiness index of 34.4.

No. 17 Maryville (No. 1995 overall) has a graduation rate of 94 percent, a 76 percent passing rate on AP scores and a college readiness index of 30.0.

No. 20 Bearden (No. 2159) has a graduation rate of 94 percent, a 66 percent passing rate on AP scores and a college readiness index of 27.8.

Central Magnet School of Murfreesboro was Tennessee's No. 1 high school and No. 44 in the United States, followed by Nashville's Hume Fogg Magnet High School (No. 77 in the U.S.) and Nashville's Martin Luther King Jr. Magnet School (No. 165 in the U.S.)

Five BASIS Charter schools in Arizona took the No. 1- No. 5 positions in the U.S. News & World Report National rankings, followed by No. 6 Meridian School of Round Rock, Texas.